BIDDEFORD — For a moment, one had to wonder if Biddeford High superfan Robert “Desi” Desjardins, who died Thursday, was giving the Tigers some heavenly intervention Friday night against Falmouth.

With the teams tied 21-21 late in the third quarter, Falmouth’s Griffin Aube blocked an 18-yard field-goal attempt, only to have holder Carter Edgerton alertly pick up the ball, roll right and throw to Colin Lavigne for a 1-yard touchdown pass.

But instead of buckling, Falmouth responded with three huge plays in less than two minutes that turned the game around, leading to a 42-30 win at Waterhouse Field.

“I’ve coached for 38 years, and I’ve never seen that happen,” Falmouth Coach John Fitzsimmons said of the Biddeford touchdown. “Bravo to them. (Edgerton) was clever enough to know what to do, and he did it perfectly.

“What I love (is) what we learned about Falmouth tonight; there’s no quit in these guys at all. There were several times when it teetered back and forth, and they never stopped playing hard.”

After Lavigne’s tiebreaking touchdown, Riley Reed bowled over tacklers and returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards. On the next play, with the Biddeford defense probably too conscious of quarterback Jack Bryant (26 carries, 233 yards), Garret Aube bounced outside and scored on a 41-yard run.

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Three plays later, Emilio Micucci stepped in front of an Edgerton pass to the left sideline and returned it 25 yards for another touchdown.

Both teams were coming off their first loss of the season. Falmouth is now 3-1; Biddeford is 2-2.

Trailing 36-27, Biddeford responded with a solid drive but was again stopped inside the 5 and had to settle for Shane Spaulding’s 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

“That was our main goal, to shut the down wherever we could, and when (they) got down there, our whole team just got into it,” said Griffin Aube, who was a disruptive force at defensive end.

Falmouth then grinded out an 11-play drive – featuring 10 carries by Bryant – that covered 65 yards and chewed up nearly six minutes. Bryant finished it with a 4-yard run, going off left tackle, as he did frequently.

“Our line was not tired at all in the fourth quarter, and we were still going, and it seemed like they were just a little bit tired at the end,” Bryant said. “We were running behind Chase Kelley and Jake Ricker, with Noah Barney pulling around. That play gave them some trouble, so we just kept at it.”

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Bryant had a 40-yard touchdown run and 35-yard touchdown pass to Garret Aube in the first half.

Biddeford broke a 14-14 halftime tie with a 65-yard interception return by Cody Saucier early in the third quarter.

Falmouth responded quickly, with a good return by Reed setting up Bryant’s 16-yard touchdown run.

Cam Lantagne rushed for 103 yards on 18 carries for Biddeford, but the Tigers rushed for only 125 yards as a team.

“Football comes down to two things, blocking and tackling,” said Biddeford Coach Brian Curit. “Falmouth did a much better job of blocking and tackling. I’m just not sure we’re physical enough, frankly.”

Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:

scraig@pressherald.com

Twitter: SteveCCraig


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